Essence of Innocence
by MelodicMadness
Summary: A spoiled boy and a tormented warrior; Two very different people, but something between them will not let one ignore the other. Within the truths and lies they share, a relationship exists that neither one of them can read. AlbelFayt. Albel POV.
1. Prologue

**Title: **Essence of Innocence

**Full Summary:**A spoiled boy and a tormented warrior; Two very different people, but something between them will not let one ignore the other. Within the truths and lies they share, a relationship exists that neither one of them can read. [Parallel story to Essence of Calamity. Albel PoV. AlbelFayt.]

**Rating: **To remain Teen.

**Disclaimer: **Star Ocean 3 and its characters belong to Tri-Ace.

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Prologue

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I was going to die, I thought. Die in a room full of miniscule mice that I wanted to squish between my claws and full of a stench that wreaked havoc in my nose, pulling on the hairs with its distasteful little fingers.

But not because I suffered extreme injuries or starvation… _boredom_ would be my doom.

I found myself spending most of my time in the prison cell picturing scenes where I would pull Vox's damned guts from through his naval, or just pull him inside out (which seemed much more enjoyable). That fool was the one that put me in here. And for what?

Well… I suppose I lost the ore to those maggots, but that memory of my first battle lost in years did not please me. If anything, all of my aimed anger at Vox should have mostly been aimed at myself. When I thought about it, perhaps I deserved to be locked up in this hellhole for my follies.

Cursing loudly, I kicked at the stone floor, seeing how it was the only thing I could do with my limbs at the moment. I managed to turn up some loose rocks, scattering them across the rest of the moldy floor. My eyes followed as they continued to roll down the uneven ground, finally stopping near a mouse-hole. Contempt grew within me as the owner of the hole inched out, twitching its nose in an effort to figure out if the rock was food or not. How come this pathetic, little creature was allowed freedom and while I was only allowed to mingle in my unceasing thoughts all day and night? Damn worm.

A few more hours of swaying back and forth in my chains finally brought a promising moment when the sound of footsteps blessed my numbing ears. I stopped mid-sway and listened intently… and they went away. I abhorred people, but I could not bear the silence. It aggravated me, but then again, what did not? My aggravation grew more persistent everyday as I felt my strength slipping away with the days that slowly ticked by.

For how long have I been in here? One week, two? As I gazed upward at the small notches scraped into the wooden beams holding my chains up, the thought occurred to me that I probably should have kept track of my time in here, also. Bah, waste of time.

My eyes returned to the floor as I drifted off into more ideas until I was apparently exhausted of hearing my own thoughts and slowly fell into a light sleep.

"…bel…" The beginnings of a dream quickly left me as my eyes barely revealed themselves. I thought that maybe I was in some sort of daydream where the mice conversed with me again. After all, besides the probable amount of hundreds of lice and cockroaches, the mice were the only other living things in the musty, rotting cell.

"Albel Nox!" Woltar's voice jolted through one ear and out the other and woke me in an instance. I wished for company, but not when it would nag me. Shifting my head slightly as to see him more clearly, I froze with my face glued into an expression of shock. My eyes first met the ones of a blue-haired weakling.

My mind did not know how to respond at first. We watched each other, me staring intently in an effort to fully awake myself, for a little while before the realization hit me with the identities of my "guests". And I could only think: What the _hell._

"I know you're dumbfounded, Albel," Woltar began. Dumbfounded? I demanded an explanation, "but the King has a proposition to make of you-,"

"What are they doing here?" Glaring across the familiar faces, I landed on one popping out as a new one I had not met before. Another one, the Aquarian's, evoked me to give her a threatening snarl, which she quickly returned with a glare almost as piercing as mine. Woltar sighed at my behavior as usual.

"Albel, the war is over, but we have a bigger threat now."

"The war… over?" Upon hearing this, my surprise grew even more. I was not sure how to reply, maybe angry because I missed participating, or shocked because it seemed that the war would have lasted at least a few more months, if not years. Did I miss more while in prison?

"Yes, we have no time for war now," Woltar answered.

Then my concern for Vox's whereabouts came across my mind, as much as I despised the fool. "What about Vox?" Woltar's hesitation to reply was evident.

"Well… these people here defeated him." And no wonder.

That scumbag deserved to die, but I preferred it to be by my claw. "What?! You mean to tell me these Aquarian scum defeated Vox?" I asked, angering at the thought that not only did I lose my chance to slaughter him, but my _enemies _received the lucky offering.

Woltar went on explaining the situation, such as the actual origin of these people, to which I quickly resounded, "A different world?! Do you take me for some sort of fool, old man? You must be going senile." With Woltar's age being too old for me to even remember anymore, I would not doubt the possibility of his lack of touch with reality.

"Fine, don't believe me, but that does not change the fact that you will be accommodating them to subdue the Marquis."

The mentioned monster brought me to behave obsequiously, holding down my tongue and any angry thoughts that ran through my head at the time. I doubted that we could really tame a giant beast, hundreds of years old, into helping _worms_ like humans. We would have burned in its fiery furor, just like… just like…

"The Marquis…?" I repeated, more solemnly.

"Yes… you do not mind, do you? It _is _an order, after all."

I feverishly searched for a way out of my fear. The Marquis just happened to be another dragon, such as the ones I once rode in previous missions accommodating the dragon brigade. He also just happened to be about twenty times larger. Curses flew through my head as I realized my panic, and forbid I ever panic; Albel Nox did not fear anything.

Standing erect and with my gaze now pulled away from the floor and focused on my unfortunately-soon-to-be-comrades, I replied coldly, "Fine. If the King commands it."

"Well answered, Albel." Bah. I felt the need to reply with some smart remark but found that I lacked the energy or wit to do so. In my stead, I remained still and quiet as Woltar released me from my shackles, which created more discomfort in my shoulder blades and joints than in my wrists. As soon as I was granted some of my freedom again, I just wanted to lash out at the nearest living thing and feel the fresh droplets of blood shower my face in glee again. I had to save that violent urge until I could face a monster, but until then, my mind and body longed only to be free from the wretched prison cell.

After fantasizing about my own hobby, I recalled that I now had new comrades… Yes, I did not like any of them and more than likely never would, but I still had to keep my eye on them. The big blond already displeased me with his aggravating remarks and exaggerated muscles. The Aquarian wench continued glaring at me, but she interested me the least. The young woman with dim hair regarded me with large eyes, probably trying to figure out my behavior.

The last, a young man with blue hair, the one that originally rubbed my defeat cruelly into the dirt, had a quiet expression now. His thoughts evaded me and I could not pick up on his emotions. This ability to hide any and all emotions from me made me a bit uneasy, but my determination to make him squeal would come through in the end.

Or, so I used to think.

End Prologue

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Reviews are very much appreciated.


	2. Chapter 1

tri-Ace owns Star Ocean 3. I _wish_ I did… but I don't.

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I'm sorry I didn't get this one up sooner… I got really distracted working on "Essence of Calamity", but I need to work on this one at the same time or else I lose what Albel's thinking, which adds almost a whole knew side to the story. I hope he is still IC in this one… my writing style changed a bit from the Prequel, so, I hope it doesn't bug you guys too much. Um, yes… Well, here it is!

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Chapter 1

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I never liked people much, and this little worm reminded me of one of the reasons why.

For the love of God, "_I AM NOT A GODDAMN WOMAN, LITTLE WENCH!"_ My voice penetrated the face of the annoying servant girl and left her trembling. I stared coldly into her large, naïve eyes, further imposing my threat. My anger only grew when she remained in the same spot, tearing up and beginning to tremble even more.

I could have given her a far worse punishment than that, but I had to behave. On a regular basis, I would have slammed my claw right into the face of anyone who called me 'Miss.'

As she continued to create even more tears, I finally snapped at her, "You better run off before you really regret your words, wench!" Not even a second after, the girl burst out into hysterical crying and ran away holding the dirty rag to her face. The blue-haired boy and his companions all glanced at me.

It was only more aggravating that everyone was having a discussion over who should share a room with me. I couldn't care less, but that apparently didn't matter. Nightmares plagued my sleep every night, regardless of who else was in my room.

"I'll room with Albel."

The statement caught my attention. Turning quickly, my face contorted into a concerned look, but I also felt aggravated. Leingod was the one person who worried me with his calm attitude anytime he was around me. I had to make him fear me, just like everyone else… right? I stopped my thoughts when I realized that I was _worried_. Like I really cared? In just a few days I wouldn't have to see any of these fools again. How could I possibly have been worried?

Angry with myself, I stormed off towards the room. There, I snuck out through the window, which took a whole minute to open since the snow froze the edges of the window to the sill (and not to mention that my claw made simple tasks such as opening windows slightly more difficult).

I did not feel like dealing with people at the moment. Actually, I _never_ felt like dealing with people. They were all idiots.

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After living in Airyglyph for most of your life, you get used to the cold quickly. The snow that night barely fazed me as I wandered through the many alleyways and corners of the capital city. Not to my surprise, inhabitants gave me questioned looks regarding my wardrobe. To be honest, I didn't know why I wore what I wore. My wardrobe consisted of sarongs and tight fitting clothes since I was an adolescent. Admittedly, it was damned comfortable and I had no intention of switching clothes just because those fools regarded me with that look of frightened curiosity.

Casting off those cumbersome thoughts, I continued to tread through the snowfall. The crunches and crinkles my shoes made when they met with the snow became louder and louder as the snow piled up, minute after minute. Okay, maybe it was _slightly_ cold.

During my wanderings of the tiny alleyways and dead ends of Airyglyph, a tiny, almost inaudible noise managed to travel through the thick snow and reach my ears. Abruptly, my feet stopped moving and I stood there—it felt as though someone were following me… or maybe… searching for me? That feeling quickly disappeared, along with the noise.

The eerie, lonely sound of the cold wind grew louder as I resumed my stroll through the snow.

An interrupted stroll.

"Ouch!"

"What the hell?!" the sound of my own voice sounded strange after being out in the quiet for that long. At first, I couldn't quiet figure out who had the nerve to run into me and not apologize, but once quick glance through the snow at that shocking blue hair answered my question.

He held his hand to his nose and rubbed it, reminding me of the children who ran in sight of me and tripped along the way, then standing up and rubbing the sores on their faces they received from the ground. Except Leingod hadn't run away from me, just _into_ me. It kind of hurt, too.

Slowly, and nervously (which it was easy to tell when he was nervous; I just couldn't read anything else), he looked up and stared me straight in the eyes. And his large, quivering eyes of green appeared so… not to sound poetic, since Albel the Wicked is nowhere near that, but they appeared so delicate. Delicate, yet they held this notable strength inside, a notable determination and spirit--.

I scowled at myself as I realized what I was thinking. It sounded nothing like me, and that irritated me.

"Watch where you're going, fool," my voice suddenly said, as if by habit. It felt the embarrassment behind my thoughts and tried hiding them.

The motionless, continuous stare from Leingod was his only reply. Maybe, I thought, he just didn't' hear me. The wind _was_ pretty loud. Or he was just blanking out. Whatever the fact my have been, he stared, and stared, right into my eyes. He was so lost in another world that his lips began to part slightly, as though he were in awe, but… in awe by my _eyes?_ I felt uncomfortable by his large, gazing eyes, but slightly amused be his intrigued (and silly looking) expression.

Eventually, I couldn't take it any longer and began to feel even more nervous and finally snapped, "**Are you deaf?!**"

He finally peeled his eyes off of me and started to speak, rather, stuttering. As he stuttered, I recalled that he never apologized, and what bugged me more was that he was sounding like Walter when he was addressing me—I didn't need to be treated like a child, and I didn't need that little Leingod boy telling me what to do.

My eyes narrowed into my infamous glare. Although it was never intended, I learned, over the years, that my glare knew how to shut people up when they were bothering me.

Despite my obvious irritation, I calmly told him "Let's head back, then."

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Shivering. He was doing nothing but shivering.

It made me feel… what was that term people used? 'Made me feel bad?'

I hadn't "felt bad" since… since…

My quick glance down at my clawed arm finished my thought for me. I didn't want to push that memory any farther.

"Come on, Leingod, just lay down and warm yourself up. I hate feeling like this."

Instead of the concerned thought in my head, I blurted out "Are you going to sleep yet? Your persistent shivering is reminding me of a worthless, little dog."

Well, it was true, but I didn't want to sound _that_ harsh.

For the hundredth time that night, I realized the sentimentality in my thoughts and cursed myself for being so kind-hearted. What the hell was going on in me? I was Albel Nox. Albel the Wicked. Albel who laughed in the faces of his enemies as they bled to death on the floor, crying for mercy. Albel, who would kill any innocent soul just to glorify his country.

Albel… who was somehow and miraculously growing a heart in that cold room, in the middle of winter, "feeling bad" just because someone was _cold_.

Damn it. Now who's the fool?

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Reviews always and forever appreciated.


	3. Chapter 2

Star Ocean 3 is simply owned by tri-Ace.

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It seems that a very small fan base is starting to grow for these two stories, and that really makes me excited! Everyone's reviews are so kind, and I want to thank all of you, for both stories! Everyone gets cookies and/or cake, whichever one you want more. :D

So, now that I've done that, I'm going to try and catch this story up to EoC before I update EoC again, then I'll try to keep the chapters together so that each side of the story can easily be compared to the other one. Um… did that make sense? Sorry, it's 7:30 a.m. and I'm only up because I thought there would be school but it's snowing and… Bah, I'm rambling. Onward to the story! //throws some more cookies and/or cakes at all of her wonderful readers//.

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Chapter 2

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Not that it was new or anything, but I went through yet another sleepless night. It was kind of hard to sleep when you had nightmares every time you dozed off for even an hour. The nightmares weren't as frequent as they used to be about a year ago, but it was still a wonder to me (and to Woltar) how I managed to survive _and_ properly function off of the miniscule amount of sleep that I received each night.

The sun barely began to peek through the mountains and the room finally began to glow with color. So I had been lying awake for… seven hours? Six? Whatever it was, I was just glad that we could leave the inn soon.

That short-lived thought of glee died as soon as I glanced over at that blue-haired enigma and noticed that he looked sickly. Within a second, I raised myself from the bed, the covers barely stirring, and brought myself to Leingod's bedside. I haven't been sick since I was 14 years old, but I could tell by his flushed face and painful expression that he probably had a fever, or… a cold? Bah, I didn't know!

And what was I supposed to do? Dress myself up in an apron and deliver him homemade toadpole noodle soup? Lay a wet, cold rag across his forehead? Wake him up and tell him that he needs to take care of himself?

I definitely wasn't going to do the first choice—I already felt degraded enough by even being concerned for the boy in the first place, and the third choice just seemed a little too… oh, what was the word that everyone used to describe me? _Cruel_?

That left me with the second choice, but I had not even the slightest of an idea where to get a wet rag, so I glanced around the room for something that could suffice. The lamp? No… the pillow? Well, if I felt like suffocating him. Maybe later, though.

After going through a few more ridiculous items, I became aware of the cold chunk of matter that rested on my left arm. Hey, it would have worked better than nothing, so don't give me that look.

At first, Leingod flinched when my gauntlet met with his forehead, but he didn't wake. Instead, his face became less distraught and he stopped furrowing his eyebrows. Was it really working? I reached my other hand over in curiosity to see just how extreme the two temperatures were of my claw and his forehead. I maybe had my hand resting on both of those for a second before I pulled it back and held it suspended, surprised, in the air. One half of my hand still burned and the other half went numb for a second.

What a fool, I thought to myself. But at the time, I wasn't sure if I was calling Leingod the fool or myself the fool.

After a minute or so of holding the cold metal on his forehead, I pulled it away, and although I knew it wasn't going to be true, I checked my metal appendage to make sure that his heat hadn't melted it.

Just as I did so, though, he slowly began to wake, opening those tired eyes of his. At first he didn't even realize that I was looming over him. He must have been really tired.

As soon as he did though, I was met with an unpleasant expression. He had to go cross-eyed for a few moments to look at my face until his eyes fully focused. Did I look that silly when I woke up, too?

Well, I replied to his expression with a confused one.

Before I could speak, he blurted out, his voice sounding as though he swallowed a bucket of dirt, "What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" That was obvious— because _you _were looking at _me_ like that. Idiot.

Apparently, I didn't even move my lips, although I thought I did, so he just continued to stare at me. Well, he wasn't dead, so I had no more business in that room. I turned on my heel and left, hearing his shouts of anger. I smirked in amusement. Not only was he alive, but he also had the energy to yell at me.

The urge to yell "Be grateful!" in reply loomed over me, but I just let it rest. It would get him more angry.

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In the lobby, I saw someone sitting by the fireplace that had died down to a single ember over the course of the snowy night, but I couldn't quite distinguish whom it was at first. When I got closer, I could identify long, blue hair, but the only name that came to me at the time was Traydeer. Or was it Traydare? Bah, who cared.

"Hello, Nox. Have a nice rest?" She spoke to me with a friendly, fearless tone, but my ears caught her nervousness. Either the stupid Aquarian scum, the blond maggot, or both, were telling her horror stories of me and now she thought them to be true, and they probably were, too.

"Check on Leingod." I didn't bother with formalities. What did it matter to her anyway how I slept? Was it normal for people to worry about strangers, or was she just trying to get on my good side? Either way, I gave her some respect points for daring to speak to me, even though she failed at it.

Traydeer opened her mouth to speak, but took it in her best interest to just take my advice and leave me alone. Yet, in a way, she almost reminded me of the other blue-headed person. I just prayed that she wouldn't be as persistent in becoming my "friend" as the boy was. One pest was enough.

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I sat outside the inn for maybe an hour before I heard Leingod's voice coming from inside the building. That time, it only sounded like he swallowed _half_ a cup of sand.

I listened in for the first few sentences, but quickly lost interest. That is… until I heard him mention my name. Just like anyone else, my ears became radars and I listened more intently, squinting one eye as though it really helped with my concentration.

"…waiting for us…" What? I'm waiting for them? Damn right I am. We should have left over an hour ago.

"…that! Albel wouldn't run off like that!" It was hard to hear, but they were definitely talking about me now. And… that was Leingod's voice, right?

"He seems devoted to his country and his king. Don't treat him like a child."

I had heard people insult me, mock me, fear me, disrespect me, but never, and I do mean never, had I heard someone actually show some genuine respect for me. My soldiers only respected me because they knew I would gut them if they disobeyed my orders or acted as worthy as me.

But Leingod wasn't trying to impress me, and he definitely wasn't trying to impress his party members (for I heard the whole room go silent), yet he still said…

Closing my eyes and releasing a giant puff of vaporized air through my nose, I crossed my arms and tried to stop thinking about what Leingod said. I didn't want to think that day. It just felt more exhausting than usual, and Leingod perplexed me every passing minute. Just as I wanted to yell back at him earlier about being grateful, I wanted to pose a question… Why in the name of Airyglyph did you defend me, and what the _hell_ do you want with me?

The voices resumed, but by that time I removed myself from the inn wall and walked across the tight alleyway to lean on the other wall. I could still hear them, but they were quiet enough now to where I could just close my eyes and enjoy the morning air.

To anyone not born up in these mountains, they would have hated the icy touch of Airygylph's cold morning air on their fragile skin. And for the people like me, who _were _born here, we hated the moist touch of the air downhill and closer to the ocean.

I probably would have lolled around in my random thoughts for a little while longer had the inn door not opened, revealing the rest of the group. Zelpher made sure to glare at me a few more seconds than necessary before turning and heading for the main road. Fittir presented himself with lowered eyebrows and a protruding jaw line. I think it was a glare. Either way, I didn't bother physically replying to his kind gesture.

Traydeer and Leingod quickly followed. They too glanced at me before continuing to walk, but I didn't care anymore. I wanted to go tame that dragon as soon as possible and return to my duty as Commander of the—

The war was over. I didn't have a real job anymore.

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The sun's pale rays proved me wrong when I thought that we left town late. The sun barely emerged from the western mountains when we reached the bottom of the main road of the Traum Mountains. Its tenuous rays glistened in the sky, growing almost unnoticeably brighter each passing minute. If anything could put my mind at ease, it was nature in its purest form. There were many days where I would go the highest point of Airyglyph castle and just stare out over the vast land, lost in the practical shapes of the hills and valleys.

Not that I was calling myself a Wood Pixie or anything, but people were just too much to bear sometimes.

Of course, other people found it hard to bear me most of the time, but that's just because I wanted it that way. My group members were no different.

They found it hard to converse in my presence. Some of them would shoot cursory glances at me thinking I wouldn't notice, but each time they met with the indifferent glare of my eyes and foolishly turned away from me.

In the midst of a conversation between Leingod and Traydeer, I learned how to actually pronounce the girl's full name—Maria Traydor. Their conversation didn't last too long though and the silence regained its position.

We continued like this for perhaps an hour and a half until a tremendous sound halted us all in our tracks. At first I thought maybe a monster had jumped out of the bushes and was roaring its battle cry as it charged towards us. It sure struck me as surprising when I looked down at Leingod and learned that he emitted those terrible noises. Those coughs sounded painful.

I was once again faced with the dilemma of "what do I do now?" I felt like I was a character in a novel that was satirizing my daily life.

Traydor answered my questions though as she ran over to Leingod and tried to support him. She had to hold him for what seemed like an eternity until the boy stopped coughing. In yet _another_ rare moment (I was having a lot of those that day), I felt that same feeling of guilt overcome me. It was undoubtedly my fault that Leingod was sick and undoubtedly my fault that he was practically having convulsions on the floor after having a cough attack. Damn you, guilt. Who ever made you is almost as sadistic as me.

Without thinking, I dragged my reluctant self over to him and stood above him, still thinking to myself of how guilty I felt. He pulled away from Traydor and looked up at me. His eyes locked with mine. There was an expression floating around in his eyes. One could almost see the gears turning in his head through his eyes. I thought maybe he would look away first, but he continued to watch me, trying to find a reason in my actions.

Hell, I didn't even know why I went over there. Though I did know that his mental probing made me feel uncomfortable.

Walking away hastily, I kicked up some dirt from a nearby anthill and watched idly as the dust curled up into the air. I waited until the sand settled all the way before taking a seat, and there I watched the hill I had destroyed. The ants panicked and ran around in frenzied circles, but they eventually calmed down and went back to their routine. When I thought about it, I reminded myself of those ants. I didn't actually run around in circles when I was distressed, though. I just did in my head.

Footsteps approached me after… well, I lost track of time. I didn't bother to look up since I had an educated guess on who it was.

"What are you thinking about?" the familiar voice asked.

…Come again?

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A/N: Wow, sorry. I forgot to update. Haha. //punted// Anyway, thank you again everyone! As usual, point out any typos since they evade me like a fly evades a flyswatter. Wow, that made no sense. Um… I forgot what I was going to say… Well, just keep reviewing and I'll try to have another chapter up! Once I sat down and started typing, I got this done in no time!


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